Apparatus for dispensing newspapers



July 21, 1959 J. w. LITTLE APPARATUS FOR DISPENSING NEWSPAPERS Filedoot. 1. 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet ,1

July 21, 1959 J. w. LITTLE APPARATUS FOR DISPENSING NEWSPAPERS 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 1, 1956' V IlIlI\Iillllllllllllllllllllllll[HIV "nil-:71

a 7 M I! Z M M Unite This invention relates to the distribution ofnewspapers, and more particularly to coin-operated vending machines andmethods of dispensing newspapers of the type disclosed in my copendingapplication Serial No. 467,000, filed November 5, 1954, and nowabandoned of which this is a continuation-in-part. 7

One of the problems encountered in the newspaper field is that ofhandling sales at remote locations where the volume of business will notsupport a vender. It has been the practice to provide a rack andcollection box, the public being relied upon to deposit the proper costwhen a paper is taken from the rack, but this is not entirelysatisfactory. Although vending machines have been devised for a widevariety of products, newspapers are not readily handled by conventionalvending apparatus. They are awkward to manipulate by machine, not onlybecause of their shape and flexibility, but also because the size of anewspaper varies from day to day. Moreover, the volume and profit peritem are very low, hence the cost of the machine must be held to acorrespondingly low figure.

Accordingly, it is an object of inexpensive vending apparatus forhandling newspapers at a point of low-volume distribution. Among theseveral other objects of the invention may be noted the provision of amethod of and apparatus for handling newspapers, despite variation inthe size thereof; the provision of apparatus of the character referredto that protects the papers against the elements; and the provision ofapparatus of this class which is substantially foolproof in operation.

In the attainment of these objectives, briefly'stated, the newspapersare rolled in loose cylinders of such diameter as to permit variation inthe thickness of the paper without variation in the diameter of theroll. Preferably, the papers are inserted within annular members, suchas might be formed of paperboard or stiff wire, the sleeves necessarilybeing of uniform diameter and preferably although not necessarily rigid.The wire rings have the advantage of being easy to handle in largequantities.

These rolled newspapers are then dispensed by a device having anenclosed vertical rack, which is open at the bottom but for asemi-circular dispensing trough. This trough is journalled at its ends,and a handle is provided at one end thereof to rotate the trough. Thehandle is connected to coin-operated mechanism that prevents suchrotation, except When a coin has been deposited. Upon deposit of a coin,the handle may be actuated to invert the trough, thereby dropping thecontained paper through the open bottom of the housing. In a preferredembodiment, the leading edge of the trough is formed with a lip, whichprojects at the center (near the ring) somewhat beyond the end margins.The lip has the advantage of more positively separating a paper to bedispensed from the next one thereabove, as the trough is rotated.

Other features of the invention will be in part apparent from and inpart pointed out in the following detailed States Patent the inventionto provide ice description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

Fig. l is an oblique view of a newspaper, as prepared for use in thedispenser of this invention;

Fig. 2 is an oblique view of the dispensing apparatus of this invention,parts being broken away;

Fig. 3 is a detailed oblique view of the dispensing element, parts beingbroken away;

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section of the dispenser;

Fig. Sis a view similar to that of Fig. 4, but showing certain partsmoved to indicate a sold out condition;

Fig. 6 is a front elevation of the trough showing an alternativeembodiment; and

Fig. 7 is a section taken on the line 7-7 of Fig. 6.

It may be noted, initially, that the invention involves shaping thenewspapers. for dispensingas well as the construction of a dispenser.For example, it is possible that newspapers might be dispensed in theirflat folded condition, as delivered from the press, but a dispenser forhandling such an article would be excessively expensive, bearing in mindthe low volume of sales to be expected. Accordingly, this inventioncontemplates that the newspapers 1 will be rolled so as to provide anarticle which can be handled by a very simple vending machine. Moreover,the thickness of a daily newspaper varies substantially from day to day,and ifconventional rolling practices were followed, the diameter of thearticle would likewise vary. Rather than provide a machine that canhandle variable-size articles, however, this'invention contemplates thatthe diameter of the. rolled papers 1 will be held to a predetermineduniform diameter. Q

Such uniform size is achieved through the use of telescoping annular.members 3 of predetermined uniform diameter. The rolled papers 1 areinserted within the members 3, thick papers being tightly rolled and thethin ones being relatively loosely rolled. Normally, the papers expandsufficiently. to conform with the sleeves therefor, buta semi-rigid ringwill assure that the diameter of the article is uniform although that ofthe rolled paper may vary. The rigid or stiff rings might be formed aspaperboard sleeves (Fig. 1) or as wire rings (Fig. 6), the latter formbeing more convenient to handle because they are less bulky. 7

Referring now to Figs. 2-5, the vending apparatus of this invention isshown to comprise an enclosure formed with a wide back 5, narrow sidewalls 7 and 8, and a closed top 9. The bottom of this enclosure is openand a pair of paper-holding hooks 11 depend therebelow from the back 5.A door 13 is hinged at 15 to the side wall 7' so as to close the frontof the device, and an apertured car 17 may project from the oppositeside 8 through a slot 19 in the door, thereby to permit the enclosure tobe locked, as. with a conventional padlock (not shown). v

The width of the enclosure corresponds to the width of the newspaper,which is of uniform value, but the depth of the enclosure correspondsroughly to the diameter of the sleeves 3. The rolled papers are thenstacked one upon the other so as to extend horizontally within theenclosure, a retaining rack therefor being formed by verticalreinforcing ribs 21, which project from the back 5, and by a pair ofguide members 23, which project inwardly from the side walls of theenclosure. These guide members 23 terminate short of the top 9 so thatthe papers may be readily inserted behind the guide members to load therack. The capacity of the rack is necessarily determined by the heightof the box, which may be varied in accordance with the the volume ofbusiness to be expected at any given location.

Otherwise, the papers are supported upon a relatively movable,semi-circular dispensing element 25 of radius corresponding to that ofthe annular members 3. This dispensing element is in the form of atrough, which is journalled at its ends on the side walls 7 and 8 of theenclosure. A pair of discs 27 are welded to the-ends of trough 25, and apin 29 extends from one of these discs through an aperture in the sidewall 7. The opposite disc is supported upon a shaft 31, which isjournalled in a coin-operated mechanism 33. A handle 35 is then securedto the opposite end of the shaft where it projects outwardly from thecoin-operated mechanism 33, the latter being secured within a suitableopening in the side wall 8.

It will be understood that such coin-operated mechanism is known in theart, and hence is not illustrated in detail. It may suffice to note thatthe mechanism could comprise a housing having a coin slot 37 at the top.Aplate 39 notched in its margin to receive a'coin C, would be journalledwithin the housing with the notch 41 normally opposite the coin slot. Aspring biased .pawl 42 normally prevents rotation of the notched plate,but when a coin is inserted, it actuates the pawl outwardly so as topermit such rotation of the plate. In being rotated, this plate carriesthe coin to the bottom of the coin mechaiiism whence it drops into acoin receptacle 43. This receptacle may be a small tray slidably held atthe bottom of the housing adjacent the side wall 8.

In addition to the above, the vending apparatus may include an indicatorfor preventing insertion of a coin after all of the papers have beensold. In the disclosed embodiment, the indicator is in the form of astud 45, which projects through the side 8 of the housing for movementtoward and away from the coin slot 37. The stud 45 is formed at the endof a crank 47, which is otherwise journalled in the reinforcing ribs 21,so that the stud is movable from a position (Fig. 4) clear of the coinslot 37 to a position (Fig. blocking entrance to the coin slot. A finger49 on the inner end of the crank is normally held against the back wall5 of the housing by the stack of papers therein, and when so held, thestud 43 is held clear of the coin slot. As the last paper within thehousing is dispensed, however, this finger 49 is released to permit thestud 45 to swing down over the coin slot. Since the stud might be pushedback by one not aware of its purpose, a window 51 may be provided in thedoor 13 in order that a purchaser can observe the empty condition of thedispenser, after such fact has been called to his attention by blockingof the coin slot.

In operation, the door 13 would be opened and the device loaded,sleeve-secured rolled papers being inserted at the top over the guidemembers 23. The door is then closed and locked. Dispensing of the papersis accomplished by rotation of the handle 35, such rotation normallybeing prevented by the coin mechanism 33, but being permitted upondeposit of a coin within the coin slot 37. When the handle 35 isrotated, the semi-circular dispensing element 25 swings from a lowerposition to an upper position and is inverted to drop a contained paper.A spring 53 operating upon an eccentric 55 on shaft 31 normally biasesthe dispensing element 25 to its lower position, so that the device isautomatically prepared for the next customer upon release of the handle.

From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that I have provideda vending device for newspapers that will handle varying-size papers andwhich can be made at a very low cost. Although only one embodimentof'the invention is disclosed in detail it will be i-ngedge relative torotation, which projects 'beyond the end portions 163 of the lead edge.The lip 161 may have a slight flare, its function being to engage thering 113 and lift the stack of papers in the magazine slightly so thatthey do not interfere with rotation of the dispensing trough.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired to besecured by Letters Patent is:

1. A newspaper dispenser comprising a vertical rack, a plurality ofrolled newspapers stacked within said rack, each of said rollednewspapers being centrally secured in its rolled condition by a rigidendless ring formed of stiff wire, a dispensing trough of generallysemi-circular cross section rotatably disposed across the bottom of saidrack for dispensing a rolled newspaper received from said rack, meansfor rotating said trough to dispense a newspaper from the trough, eachof said rings being of a diameter approximately equal to that of thesemicircular trough.

2. A newspaper dispenser as set forth in claim 1, wherein the leadingedge of said trough is formed with a center portion disposed forwardlyof the end portions of said edge and is flared outwardly so as to engagethe stiff ring of a rolled newspaper lying immediately above the trough,thereby to lift said rolled newspaper clear of the end edges of thetrough upon rotation of the trough.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS652,370 Murphy June 26, 1900 668,808 Stuart et a1 Feb. 26, 1901 962,283Whistler et a1. a June 21, 1910 1,415,337 Grover May 9, 1922 1,951,239Friel Mar. 13, 1934 2,156,196 Romanoski Apr. 25, 1939 2,189,641 SlezakFeb. 6, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS 154,711 Germany Oct. 5, 1904

